'It will help to either confirm or refute various theories that swirl about this important case'

The head of a private investigative team in Washington, D.C., trying to solve the murder of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich plans to file a lawsuit Wednesday to push the Metropolitan Police Department to release information relating to the mysterious killing, according to a new report.

D.C. lobbyist and attorney Jack Burkman

Jack Burkman, the head of the Profiling Project investigative team, is seeking video footage of the shooting, the medical examiner’s report and ballistics reports, the Daily Caller reported. He plans to file his lawsuit in the District of Columbia Superior Court and hold a press conference outside Metropolitan Police Department headquarters.

As WND reported, Jack Burkman, the head of the Profiling Project investigative team, insisted that officials with the Metropolitan Police Department – in collusion with the mayor – are withholding key evidence from the public and obstructing the investigation for political purposes. Burkman, who is also an attorney and a lobbyist, said police are no longer cooperating with anyone, and he believes they’ve completely stopped the investigation into the murder of Rich, who served as the DNC’s voter expansion data director.

“The release of this crucial material will help bring peace to the victim’s family, and it will help to either confirm or refute the various theories that swirl about this important murder case,” Burkman’s lawsuit states, according to the Daily Caller.

Burkman has offered a $105,000 reward of his personal money for information leading to the arrest of Rich’s killer(s).

Murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich

In an interview with WND, Burkman claimed police have “shut down all full operations.”

“The police are not cooperating with us or anyone, which is sad,” he said. “This has become a very systematic and deliberate effort by the D.C. police and the mayor to end the Seth Rich investigation.”

Burkman insisted the police are withholding important evidence crucial to finding Rich’s murderer.

“We believe there is additional security footage that we need to see,” Burkman told WND. “There is other video that the police have that we need to see. We need ballistics from them – we need a lot from them. We think the police are now deliberately concealing an awful lot of stuff in an effort to shut this investigation down. I have been very patient and favorable to the D.C. police, but it’s time to shine the light on what they’re doing.”

But in a statement to WND, the Metropolitan Police Department disputed Burkman’s allegations.

“MPD does not entertain conspiracy theories and does not engage with conspiracy theorists,” the statement from MPD’s Karimah Bilal said. “If you are in possession of information that you believe to be relevant to this or any case, please let us know the details of such information such that it can help, rather than hinder, our investigation.”

Jack Burkman at a March 23, 2017, news conference announcing the creation of the Profiling Project, a private effort to find the killer of DNC staffer Seth Rich

As WND reported, Rich, 27, was murdered in his affluent neighborhood in Washington. He was shot in the back multiple times with a handgun at 4:18 a.m. a block from his home, and although the police reported it as a robbery, nothing was taken from him. He was transported to an unidentified local hospital and was pronounced dead at 5:57 a.m. On July 22, just 12 days after Rich’s death and days before the Democratic Party Convention in Philadelphia, WikiLeaks released 20,000 emails from DNC officials.

The Metropolitan Police Department and Washington, D.C., mayor’s office maintain that Rich was killed during an attempted robbery, even though the murderers left behind his wallet, credit cards and other valuables.

“We’ve done investigations that really prove this was not a robbery,” Burkman told WND. “I took one look at that video, and I knew that the police story that this was a robbery gone awry was nonsense. I mean, my God, he was shot twice in the back and nothing was taken. The police hypothesis is just ridiculous! It’s beyond silly.”

Jack Burkman’s organization has posted signs and billboards asking, ‘Do you know who murdered Seth Rich?’ This one is located at a bus stop in the Columbia Heights section of Washington, D.C. (Photo: imgur)

As WND reported, a manager at Lou’s City Bar, the last known location where Rich was seen before his murder, claims police never interviewed the bar’s staff or requested evidence, such as footage from security cameras.

WND has launched a new GoFundMe campaign to put more resources into investigative reporting, to hire an independent private investigator and to provide rewards for new evidence that leads to the arrest and conviction of Rich’s murderer.

Meanwhile, Americans have been hunting for clues and searching for answers to a myriad of questions surrounding the unsolved murder. Rumors and speculation are running wild in online chat rooms, social media and websites. Rich’s family has asked police to release information about the murder and put a stop to some of the speculation.

“While the family still have confidence in the Metropolitan Police Department’s ability to investigate Seth’s murder, of course, they are frustrated with the lack of evidence, leads and credible information about the case,” Brad Bauman a spokesman for the family, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “They desperately want to find Seth’s murderers and bring them to justice as quickly as possible.”